Whether the weather is right?

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) might have got a bit better with its predictions but doubts still persist and they simply not able to give accurate forecasts despite all this investment into hi-tech equipments.

But this inadequacy of the IMD is giving rise to a bunch of independent ‘weather men’. They have their own scientific ways and farmers around them have come to trust them more than the IMD. Take the case of Navdeep Dahiya, who lives in Rohtak, Haryana. His small lawn in the house is a bustling weather hub, all with a wind wand, anemometer, digital thermometer, and manual and automatic rain gauge. He puts out his predictions on Facebook which farmers in and around Rohtak ardently follow.

Chennai-based Pradeep John became famous after his prediction of the floods in 2015. He has since then become a social celebrity with his FB page ,

Tamil Nadu Weatherman getting over 5.6 lakh followers v/s IMDs about 30,000 followers. He says it is all about correct interpretation of the data – there are times when the model suggests rain but based on his own experience and knowledge of local atmospheric conditions, he issued, ‘No rain’ which proved right!

Then there is also Mumbai-based, 65-years old Rajesh Kapadia, India’s first weather blogger - Vagaries of the Weather, which he started almost a decade ago.

The common factor with all of them – they are popular because they predict ‘local’ weather not like IMD, which is more generalized. And yes, their knowledge is proving to be better. Good if they can work hand-in-hand not compete with IMD – such collective knowledge providers should be encouraged and made mainstream.